Blinken says a sovereign Ukraine will last longer than Putin in vote of confidence for Zelenskyy

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday.
• Later Blinken said he believed an independent Ukraine “will be around a lot longer than Vladimir Putin is on the scene.”
• He also said Russia was “failing” in its invasion aims and pledged further US support.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believed an independent Ukraine would last “a lot longer” than Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Blinken visited the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Sunday, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In remarks about the visit from Poland on Monday, he expressed US support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country.

He said, according to the BBC: “The bottom line is this. We don’t how the rest of this war will unfold, but we do know that a sovereign, independent Ukraine will be around a lot longer than Vladimir Putin is on the scene. And our support for Ukraine going forward will continue and it will continue until we see final success.”

“When it comes to Russia’s war aims, Russia is failing,” he said, according to the Associated Press.

“Ukraine is succeeding. Russia has sought as its principal aim to totally subjugate Ukraine, to take away its sovereignty, to take away its independence. That has failed.”

Russia’s invasion stalled in much of Ukraine, and it failed to capture Kyiv in the face of logistical issues and strong resistance of Ukraine.

Russia has now repositioned its troops, bringing a heavier battle to the east and south of Ukraine.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was also on the trip with Blinken, said according to the AP: “We believe that they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support, and we’re going to do everything we can … to ensure that gets to them.”

“We want to see Ukraine remain a sovereign country, a democratic country able to protect its sovereign territory, we want to see Russia weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine,” Austin said.

Zelenskyy on Monday thanked the US for its “unprecedented” help, and “personally” thanked US President Joe Biden. 

Zelenskyy said he wanted “to thank all the American people, as well as the Congress for their bicameral and bipartisan support. We see it. We feel it.”